Devyntias Amberfern
"...and the best part is, I was taught to rule a world that doesn't need a ruler anymore. I was prepared to give speeches and all the pretentious lark that came with it, but not to be a person outside of it. I wasn't raised for that." '' - Devyntias contemplating his life'' Devyntias'' ''Galekon Amberfern, later known as Tias (regnal name) or just '''Devyn '''to his friends in early life, was the 793rd Primonarch of Eia, preceded by RorymIII and ElythyynIX (Regent Queen) and succeeded by Kadyyn I. He was the only Primonarch in history to be usurped, having the Throne taken by Riven I Staigus. The only child of RorymIII and Tharla Akaila, Devyn was the only heir to the Throne of Erwood after Rorym's reign; an unusual case due to the fact of the entire Amberfern lineage bearing multiple children in each generation. For this reason, he was closely watched and protected by his father. Devyn's official title varied due to the complications of him being an only child, but was generally referred to as Ditarch - Prince. Appearance & Personality With emerald-green eyes and steel-silver hair, Devyn's appearance was enigmatic to the populace due to his stark difference to Rorym, which provoked multiple scandals over the years until it was reminded that Tharla shared his striking hair colour, though his eye colour appeared to have been inherited from his grandmother Elsin Tevlo. At fully grown, Devyn stood at a reasonable 5'11", being one of the only Amberferns not to hit the 6' mark. After years of training through Xerrus, he bulked up from a relatively skinny frame to 184lbs before his chaotic life saw his weight fluctuate dramatically. During his 7-year imprisonment after the Battle of Grey Bastion, his hair and beard grew long and wild to the point that, upon his eventual escape, people mistook him for an ageing hermit even though he was in his mid-30s at the time. Prior to the Black Collapse, Devyn was unfamiliar with the world outside his royalty mainly due to the over-protection of Rorym, making him unintentionally spoilt and over ambitious. He struggled to understand the hardships others outside the Palace and often came across as ignorant or stuck up by those he met, though it was clear through his visible confusion in such cases that he was not deliberately blind to it. When Erwood fell, it took him several months to truly understand the events that destroyed his home, his promised future, his people and more significantly, the life of Rorym. This would be followed by a longterm existential crisis when he was thrown into the life of a fleeing refugee who most presumed dead. At the young age of 15, Devyn had no choice but to adapt to an entirely new life from scratch which lead to uncontrollable aggression and anxiety, not helped by the constant threat of being discovered and forced onto the Throne. After joining the Coalition, his rage was focused and he was able to settle into a personality more fitting for his station. However, he permanently lost much of his enthusiasm and faith, becoming overtly cynical about everything that faced him. His only drive was vengeance for the destruction of his and millions of others' lives in his adolescence, and rarely would he allow himself to be distracted from his personal mission. Forerunner of the future In 1782 ASE, Devyntias Amberfern learned that he was a starghast and tied to the spirit of Ihviryn, an Antecedent. As per the symptoms of an active starghast, it took him most of his life to realise that the visions he had were actually memories of a very distant past that he lived as another man. Ihviryn had been tasked to enter The Material prior to The Third Emergence in order to halt the coming of The Rin before it could happen, however he was pulled back mid-transfer and as a result, left behind an incomplete material being that possessed his powers but not his person, one day to be known as Th'eraez. After a recalculation, it was decided that he should not only enter The Material, but he should be born into a royal family in order to have more influence on the rest of the world (hence the transfer of his powers into his material mother and father). Alas, the transfer happened too late to stop The Third Emergence, but he could not be pulled back without his material form dying first. Th'eraez learned of this first when he and Devyn fought each other in 1773 ASE, where, after inflicting a wound on the latter, he too felt the pain. This lead to a revelation that the two were both tied to Ihviryn and could not kill each other without one of them committing to suicide; this also meant that should one of them die by another's hand, so would the other. Devyn would only become aware of this long after, during his 20 year exile (1776-96 ASE), by which time, Th'eraez had virtually abandoned his quest in order to ensure no-one killed either of them. Though they were mortal enemies, they were forced to protect each other. Amnesia Following the death of his life long friend Kerrun at the hands of Riven, Devyn exhibited his starghast abilities in one of the most strenuous and devastating displays of power the world had ever seen in one individual. His grief and rage fuelled an attack on Riven's men that eviscerated almost all of them in a distressingly violent manner, who he then harvested their souls to use as a concussive blast against the survivors. The ordeal took a great toll on both his mind and body, practically depleting him of the ability altogether. The strain of the situation resulted in his life expectancy being nearly halved. While he was on the run, he quickly lost fragments of his memory with every passing day, until a few months went by when he couldn't even remember his name. The following 2 decades saw Devyn slowly recovering what memories he could in hiding, though for much of that time he didn't even know why he was hiding. Twin was instrumental in his recovery, he spent hours each day trying to piece Devyn's life together with him, but often mentioned that the amnesia would infrequently strike again, erasing major events from his life. It wasn't until 1793-94 that Devyn's mind levelled out and was able to continue as a somewhat normal person, but in terms of how much damage his outburst had caused, he had the physical vigour of an elderly man. Death & Legacy In the summer of 1794 ASE, Devyn cobbled together a company of loyalists willing to face Th'erraez for the last time in a final effort to free Eia from the threat of the Rin. Upon discovering the existence of a buried portstone beneath the ruins of Erwood, he realised that his mortal enemy would use it to complete his mission. Though he knew he wouldn't return from the mission, he was unaware that his daughter Kadyyn had disguised herself within the company to witness the legend of her estranged father. Alongside him was a reformed Riah, who intended to help destroy Th'erraez after her years of torture. Battle commenced between the company and the small host of Niaran soldiers following Th'erraez, in the ruined dome of the Gallerion Primordia, where Devyn's predecessor also fell. He and Th'erraez were equally reluctant to fight each other, due to their immaterial bond, but engaged in combat nonetheless, slowly bringing one another closer to death. Devyn suffered a gunshot wound from an unoccupied Niaran, which caught the attention of Kadyyn. Amidst the chaos, Devyn instructed Riah to finish off Th'erraez, regardless of the fact it would also kill him; his daughter watched as he indirectly fell to Riah's blade. Kadyyn stayed by him until he died, hearing his last words to be her name.